Lab Activity, Week Seven

This week our lab activity was to discuss research collaboration and its benefits to both us and the world. I was not present for the lab this week, so I have to post my own personal reflection on the subject. Collaboration in research is extremely important to get big problems solved, because we live in a world where no one person no matter how intelligent or resourceful is capable of doing the necessary work on their own. When you come together to solve problems through collaborative research you can have a greater impact by bringing more skills to the table and having the insight or criticism can keep people on the right track.

In school right now we are collaborating on a research project about food technology and by having a small group dedicated to the same task, we bring our creativity and skills together to accomplish more much faster. We waste less time and have less risk because we share our knowledge and the work load to accomplish the tasks. This isn’t the first time I have had to collaborate like this in school and I doubt it will be the last time either since I am entering the business world and that is nothing but working with others.

I have seen the benefits of collaboration research in action both personally and in the scientific world through research papers and current technology. I can’t honestly see any negatives to this subject since its just so powerful, we wouldn’t have the world we live in now if it wasn’t for its consistent use. It brings people together from multiple fields and professions to accomplish something they could have never done on their own. I guess you could argue that peoples different styles of research or investigation could clash with others, but that just means they need to adjust themselves personally and I don’t see it as a fault of research collaboration itself.